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          <th colspan="3" align="center">The Csound Command</th>
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            <h2 class="title"><a id="CommandTop"></a>The Csound Command</h2>
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      <p>
    The command <span class="emphasis"><em>csound</em></span> is a basic frontend to the system that can be used to generate a sound output from an <a class="link" href="OrchTop.html" title="Syntax of the Orchestra"><em class="citetitle">orchestra</em></a> file and a <a class="link" href="ScoreTop.html" title="The Standard Numeric Score"><em class="citetitle">score</em></a> file (or a unified <a class="link" href="CommandUnifile.html" title="Unified File Format for Orchestras and Scores"><em class="citetitle">csd file</em></a>). It is designed to be called from a terminal or DOS window. In addition to it, there are other <a class="link" href="OviewFrontEnds.html" title="Front Ends"><em class="citetitle">front-ends</em></a>, which might be simpler to use. The score file can be in one of many different formats, according to user preference. Translation, sorting, and formatting into orchestra-readable numeric text is handled by various preprocessors; all or part of the score is then sent on to the orchestra. Orchestra performance is influenced by <a class="link" href="CommandFlagsCategory.html" title="Command-line Flags (by Category)"><em class="citetitle">command flags</em></a>, which set the level of displays and console reports, specify I/0 filenames and sample formats, and declare the nature of real-time sensing and control.
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      There are five places where options for Csound performance may be set. They are processed in the following order:

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              <p>Csound's own defaults</p>
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              <p>File defined by the CSOUNDRC <a class="link" href="CommandEnvironment.html" title="Csound Environment Variables"><em class="citetitle">environment variable</em></a>, or .csoundrc file in the HOME directory</p>
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              <p>A <a class="link" href="CommandUnifileParFile.html" title="Command Line Parameter File (.csoundrc)"><em class="citetitle">.csoundrc</em></a> file in the current directory</p>
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              <p>&lt;CsOptions&gt; tag in a <a class="link" href="CommandUnifile.html" title="Unified File Format for Orchestras and Scores"><em class="citetitle">.csd file</em></a></p>
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              <p>Passed on the Csound <a class="link" href="CommandDesc.html" title="Description of the command syntax"><em class="citetitle">command</em></a> line</p>
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      The later options in the list will override any earlier ones.
      As of version 5.01 of Csound, sample and control rate override flags
      (<a class="link" href="CommandFlags.html#FlagsMinusLowerR"><em class="citetitle">-r</em></a> and
      <a class="link" href="CommandFlags.html#FlagsMinusLowerK"><em class="citetitle">-k</em></a>)
      specified anywhere override sr, kr, and ksmps defined in the orchestra header.
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